4th July Joke

Elsa Putri menikah pada usia 16 tahun, dengan seorang pria yang 11 tahun lebih tua darinya. Elsa tidak mengerti cinta, namun dia merasa tidak rela ketika pria yang seharusnya menjadi miliknya ternyata telah menjadi milik orang lain. Ketika perasaan mereka menjadi tidak menentu, Elsa menemukan dirinya hamil. Hamil di usia 16 tahun. ~~~ A novel by Asia July. Cover edited in Photoshop. Pic from Unsplash - Jerry Wang

Helenina Baron setuju untuk berpura-pura menjadi adiknya dan menggantikan posisi sang adik untuk menjadi pengantin seorang pengusaha kaya raya yang terkenal tidak memiliki hati bernama Arthur Rutherford. Namun dengan cepat sandiwara yang Helenina lakukan itu terbongkar, dan ketika dia pikir semuanya selesai sampai di sana, ternyata dia salah. Karena Arthur Rutherford justru mengikatnya dalam sebuah janji pernikahan yang tidak pernah Helenina inginkan sebelumnya. Dan pria itu memiliki niatnya sendiri. Kemudian terobsesi padanya. Apa yang harus Helenina lakukan untuk lepas dari kungkungan suaminya yang tidak berperasaan itu? ***

Lucius Denovan loves game. And Alicia Lucero happen to be his only game that he loves to play. *** Saat Alicia berusia sembilan tahun, orang tuanya pergi dan dia dititipkan kepada pamannya. Namun, pamannya adalah seorang pria gila harta yang kemudian menjual Alicia pada seorang pria bermata merah kelam itu. Alicia kemudian diasingkan ke sebuah desa. Sampai usianya menginjak angka delapan belas, pria itu datang menjemputnya. Dan dia adalah manusia terkejam yang pernah Alicia temui. Pria itu menyukai sensasi ketika permainannya melukai Alicia. Dia tersenyum ketika melihat Alicia menangis. Dan tertawa ketika Alicia menjerit sakit. Namun, Alicia tidak pernah sekalipun merasa bahwa dirinya harus pergi dari jerat pria itu. Karena Alicia tahu sesuatu yang Lucius tidak ketahui. *** 2020 by Asia July Cover illustration by Asia July (@layaciart)

Azkia Rachel Poernomo, seorang Gadis yang tidak pernah percaya diri untuk menjalani hubungan LDR (Long Distance Relationship) akhirnya memutuskan untuk mengakhiri hubungannya dengan sang Kekasih saat dia akan pergi untuk kuliah di kota yang berbeda dengan Teguh, kekasihnya. Perselingkuhan yang dilakukan oleh ayahnya di masa lalu, membuat Kia sulit untuk mempercayai bahwa sebuah hubungan yang terpisah jarak akan dapat berhasil. Meskipun hubungannya diputuskan sepihak oleh Kia, Teguh tetap pada pendiriannya memperjuangkan kekasih hatinya. Hingga akhirnya dia lelah dan mulai menyerah, kemudian membuka hati untuk yang lain. Bertahun-tahun Kia menghindar, akhirnya ketika takdir membawanya kembali ke kota kelahirannya, Kia disambut dengan undangan pernikahan Teguh. Kia tetap berusaha menghadapinya seolah tidak terjadi apa-apa. Seolah memang sudah tidak ada lagi cinta untuk lelaki itu. Tapi sampai kapan Kia sanggup membohongi perasaannya sendiri? Haruskah dia menjadi orang ketiga di dalam rumah tangga Teguh? Sedangkan dia sangat membenci orang ketiga, karena itu pernah membuat rumah tangga orang tua nya hampir berakhir. Ataukah dia harus membuka hatinya untuk menerima cinta yang lain? Sedangkan dirinya masih merasa belum berani untuk jatuh cinta, karena cinta yang sebelumnya dia rasakan hanya membawa luka bagi dirinya.

Hidup Dahlia mulai kacau saat malam dia menghadiri acara pernikahan putri tirinya. Saat tanpa sengaja dia mabuk, keesokan paginya dia mendapati dirinya terbangun dalam pelukan seorang pria. Tidak hanya itu, karena pria yang semalam berbagi kenikmatan bersamanya adalah Kai Ronan, sang mempelai pria. Atau kalau itu tidak cukup jelas; Dahlia tidur dengan menantunya sendiri. Tidak sampai di sana, Kai Ronan malah bersikap seolah apa yang mereka lakukan bukanlah kesalahan. Dan yang lebih buruk adalah … pria itu terobsesi kepadanya. Apakah hidup Dahlia bisa tetap tenang setelah itu? Terlebih ketika kebenaran perlahan terungkap. Dan bisakah dia tetap menganggap Kai sebagai menantunya? *** Written by Asia July. Cover edited in Photoshop. Pic from Unsplash – Jeferson Gomes

For the seven years after our marriage, I spend whole nights in the prayer room before he will even touch me. Eric Compton says it is to atone for what I owe Monica Lynch. When his mother, Barbara Lane, pushes me to fulfill my wifely duties again, I overhear Eric's friends laughing. "Let me think. How many rounds of IVF has Avery done this year? She's trying very hard to get pregnant." "She probably doesn't know there's no way she's ever getting pregnant with Eric's kid." Eric scoffs. "Every time we're done, I give her a glass of milk. After all these years of birth control, it'd be a miracle if she got pregnant." He adds, "Everything she's suffered through is just payback for driving Monica away." I smile bitterly and send the recording to Richard Compton. "I'm not the lucky one meant to carry on the Compton name. Can I go now?"

Noah left me at the altar three times—for his precious Freya. First time? She threatened to jump off a building. Second? Said she was moving abroad. Third? Sent a text saying she was getting forced into some arranged marriage. Noah, usually Mr. Cool, freaked. Left a packed venue and turned me into a total joke. Again. I called him. "If you don't come back today, I'm marrying someone else." He laughed. "Freya's young. You're too old to be playing games, aren't you?" I clutched my phone, heart sinking. He knew Freya was bluffing. Still picked her. That's when I finally gave up. Later, after he'd calmed her down, he came looking for me. "Pick a new wedding date," he said, like it was no big deal. "It'll be even grander this time." A guy's voice cut through, smiling. "Sorry, man. Gotta get my wife on the plane."

My husband persuaded my daughter to donate her kidney to save his lover. After the surgery, he stayed by his lover’s side and neglected my daughter who developed kidney failure that led to her death. When I confronted the nasty couple, they refused to believe that my daughter had passed away and kicked me out by force. Afterward, I took my daughter's ashes to her eighteenth birthday party where my husband showed up with his lover and tore down all the decorations, going as far as to scatter my daughter’s ashes. He then accused my late daughter of undermining his lover’s career. When he finally had to accept that his daughter was dead, he still insisted on defending his lover. Eventually, I showed him proof that it was his lover who refused the hospital’s proposed organ donor so that she could plot to take my daughter’s kidney instead. Upon finding out the truth, he lost his mind and killed his lover. Now that those two have gotten what they deserve, I bring my daughter’s ashes and travel to the places she had always wanted to go to.

"The marriage certificate's fake..." The clerk in the County Clerk's Office shot Serena a sympathetic look. "Vincent Schit legally married Maggie Cheape. Two weeks ago." Serena didn't even blink. Of course the guy she'd spent six years loving married his ex behind her back. "Thanks."

Airin is known as a good girl in a village, she is a very devoted child to her parents. Airin never once denied anything her parents ordered. Including when they asked her to marry a wealthy immigrant in their village, Sir Sakha Januar Pradipta. Airin doesn't mind if he’s single, but the 33-year-old man already has 3 wives. Which means, Airin ... will be the fourth. But will it be that simple? Of course not. Because Airin refuses to be an oppressed woman. The character that she had been desperately hiding from people slowly began to emerge. Airin is not a good girl like they thought. She is cunning and manipulative, unfortunately no one notices it because of her innocent face. Except of course the honorable Mr. Sakha. In front of her husband, Airin could never hide anything. *** Written by Asia July. The cover was edited in Photoshop. Photo by Valery Sysoev from Unsplash.